Guwahati, Sep 24: The flood situation remained grim in Assam Monday with more areas submerged across 16 districts, marooning nearly 14 lakh people in the state, officials said.
A total of 1,972 villages had come under flood water, sources in the Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) said.
The state government has opened 169 relief camps for the marooned, the sources said, adding that over 2.31 lakh people were staying in these camps.
The sources confirmed that four people had died in the floods -- one in Dibrugarh district and three in Tinsukia.
Unofficial sources, however, put the death toll at eight.
The sources said the figures might increase as nine people were reported missing till Monday evening.
The Brahmaputra and some of its tributaries were flowing above the danger level and maintaining a rising trend.
A red alert was sounded in Majuli Island and all educational institutions had been asked to stay closed indefinitely from Tuesday due to the rising water level.
The Indian Air Force, army, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) were engaged in relief and rescue work.
Around 8,000 people had been rescued till Sunday evening in Tinsukia, Sonitpur and Dhemaji districts.
Air force helicopters dropped 250 quintals of food items among the marooned at Sootea in Sonitput district and at Sadia in Tinsukia district till late Sunday.
The flood waters have damaged crops and fishery industries in various places.
A large portion of the the Dibru-Saikhowa National park, the Kaziranga National Park and the Pobitara Wildlife Sanctuary have been submerged, the sources said.
Surging waters have also submerged 100 anti-poaching camps at the Kaziranga National Park.
